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Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#51

Post by gambiting »

grecy wrote: post #45
hanoz wrote: post #28

This was obviously never going to happen and is absolutely the right decision for Zuckerberg and Facebook. House of Commons select committees bagging a big scalp invariably turn into show trials, with MPs possessing a completely deluded sense of their own insight into a subject queuing up to play to the cameras. The spectacle of having Zuckerberg there would have been absolutely excruciating. So, much as I'd like to…

Would you feel the same way if the CEO of some massive Russian or Chinese firm holding the private data on millions and millions of American citizens refused to appear before the American Congress?

I mean....I would still recognize it as the correct business decision, even though I would personally dislike it. Those two are not mutually exclusive.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#52

Post by noir-york »

No representation without taxation.

Why should Facebook send Zuckerberg when Facebook paid a grand total of £2.6 million taxes to the UK in 2017.

If the British parliament wants Zuckerberg to attend, make the UK relevant to Facebook. Tax it.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/04/facebook-...

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#53

Post by notafxn »

pjc50 wrote: post #46
notafxn wrote: post #26

I hope this hate on FB ends already, I'm tired of seeing the home page of HN polluted by it. We all knew what was going on on FB, so acting surprised is silly. And we all know this won't change nothing because most people don't care and will happily keep using FB. And we also know even if people stop using FB they will keep using WA/IG. So what's the point? Is this only a problem now that Trump took advantage of it?

There's an awful lot of people posting "we knew it was bad already, why do you care now?" Remarkably consistently across all articles relating to Facebook. Clearly you want nothing done about this and are happy with this low level of privacy. But on the other hand a lot of people have been unhappy with it for a long time; suddenly the dam has broken and the public discussion in the media is taking an interest. This h…

I'm not happy with this level of privacy, that's why I don't use Facebook. :-)

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#54

Post by [deleted] »

Milner08 wrote: post #25
mrleiter wrote: post #18

Saying this is a strategic mistake may be a bit too early to tell. It depends on whether this issue will slowly disappear in the media and minds of people (like most things). He has no legal obligation to appear if I understand correctly. The select committee mainly consists of MPs who objected Brexit. Of course they try to make their point that the vote was skewed or manipulated. If, on the other hand, the pressure…

What on earth does their stance on Brexit have to do with there position in the select committee?!

[deleted]

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#55

Post by inetknght »

majewsky wrote: post #42
amelius wrote: post #19

Come on Zuck, think about how this will make you look in the sequel of "The Social Network".

"The Antisocial Network"?

That title is a slap on the face for us Americans who confuse antisocial with asocial.

Perfect.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#56

Post by bambataa »

noir-york wrote: post #52

No representation without taxation. Why should Facebook send Zuckerberg when Facebook paid a grand total of £2.6 million taxes to the UK in 2017. If the British parliament wants Zuckerberg to attend, make the UK relevant to Facebook. Tax it. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/04/facebook-...

Did you read the linked article? Facebook deliberately structure their operations to try and avoid paying UK tax. So it seems odd to then cite that as a reason for him not attending.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#58

Post by matwood »

tjomk wrote: post #41
AJRF wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is acting surprised? Why do you think it is inevitable that people would use WhatsApp or Instagram if they decide to leave Facebook? Is that really as obvious as you are making it out to be? Is there any evidence of that? The point is that finally, FINALLY the mainstream is paying attention to the potential ramifications of having a consolidated identity on social media, and how they potentially could have their…

The problem is not only Facebook that distorts the reality, it's most of the media. Look at mainstream media like CNN or RT which favour one side and totally ignore the arguments of the other. All of that will continue to happen no matter what until people start to think critically and question all the information they get, be it from their parents, school teachers, news outlets or social media. In my circle of frien…

> Look at mainstream media like CNN

Lets be honest, CNN is just a tabloid now. All they want to talk about is Trumps sexcapades when there are so many other things they can focus on that really matter.

Re: Facebook's Zuckerberg will not appear before British MPs

#59

Post by chiefalchemist »

headmelted wrote: post #39
hanoz wrote: post #28

This was obviously never going to happen and is absolutely the right decision for Zuckerberg and Facebook. House of Commons select committees bagging a big scalp invariably turn into show trials, with MPs possessing a completely deluded sense of their own insight into a subject queuing up to play to the cameras. The spectacle of having Zuckerberg there would have been absolutely excruciating. So, much as I'd like to…

Everything you've said is utterly accurate and yet I still think this is a terrible decision. We'll have to witness some hapless middle-manager undergo the same circus, but with every new person to speak we'll have a customary "I simply cannot believe Mr. Zuckerberg did not think it was important for him to be here in person!". Having a fall guy give terrible answers looks worse than him giving terrible answers. At t…

Agree. It took (e.g.) Microsoft et al too long to realize - for better or worse - the significance of Washington DC. Today, the stage is international, the flow of info more freely. That is, a couple of phone calls and it's possible to mobilize the FB platform against FB itself. Extreme? Yes, but possible.

FB, sooner or later, will regret this decision.

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